Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Burberry: North Korea

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that North Korean workers are producing garments for Burberry Group Inc.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: We have made no such assessment. The Modern Slavery Act, enacted last year, includes a demanding transparency in supply chains disclosure provision. This provision requires businesses operating in the UK, with an annual turnover of more than £36 million, to produce a slavery and human trafficking statement setting out the steps they have taken during the financial year to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any of its supply chains or its own business. The provision obliges eligible companies to publish this information on their website, with a conspicuous link from their homepage, so that consumers, investors and the general public know what steps businesses are taking in this regard.

Students: Loans

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on graduates of freezing the income level at which student loans become repayable, and what estimate they have made of the number of students who would be rendered liable if that level were frozen.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: The impact of freezing the repayment threshold for 5 years was described in the government’s consultation document, which was published in July 2015.https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/freezing-the-student-loan-repayment-threshold Those who earn above the £21,000 threshold can expect to repay nearly £6 extra per week by 2021 (in 2021 prices), or around £306 per year. We expect that an additional 9% of graduates will start to repay as a result of the threshold freeze. This equates to 190,000 of the 2.1 million Plan 2 graduates expected to be in repayment by 2020/21. The £21,000 threshold remains higher in real terms than that applicable to student loans taken out before 2012.



student-loan-repayment-threshold-consultation
(PDF Document, 468.12 KB)

Overseas Students: India

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take to increase international student numbers from India, in the light of the publication of Indian Student Mobility Report 2016 by M M Advisory Services. which points out that, despite the high growth in overseas students from India, the number of students coming to the UK has declined steeply in recent years and is likely to be overtaken by Germany.

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park: We welcome international students from all countries to study at our world-class universities. There is no cap on the number that can come here and the UK remains the second most popular destination for international students.The Government is working closely with India to strengthen education ties with the UK. In November 2015, the Indian and UK Prime Ministers’ jointly announced the ‘2016 UK-India Year of Education, Research and Innovation’ and the following month my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Minister of State for Universities and Science led a delegation to India, accompanied by 28 vice-chancellors and college leaders to increase sector-to-sector partnerships.We are funding major bilateral agreements, including: the UK India Education Research Initiative (UKIERI) which supports partnerships in education and research; the Newton-Bhabha Fund, bringing together science and innovation partners to tackle economic development challenges; and supporting the Generation UK-India programme which is increasing the number of UK students taking placements in India. We are also promoting recruitment to the UK through the Britain is GREAT marketing campaign.

British Home Stores: Insolvency

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the report of the Insolvency Service into the collapse of BHS.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: It would not be appropriate for details of the ongoing investigation to be made public as that may prejudice the outcome of any criminal or civil cases which arise from it. If any directors are disqualified the Insolvency Service will publish the details of the disqualification on its website (for three months) and will notify Companies House, which keeps the statutory register of disqualifications. In addition, where the investigation uncovers matters of potential criminal misconduct or other regulatory breaches then this will be reported to the relevant authority for further action. Once the investigation is completed the Government will consider what detail it is appropriate to publish having full regard to any legal restrictions on publication, and also the legitimate public interest in the cause of the BHS failure.

Comet Group: Insolvency

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in the light of the current situation facing the UK's retail industry, they will reconsider their decision not to publish the report by the Insolvency Service into the collapse of Comet Group plc.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Insolvency Service’s fact-finding inquiry into Comet was conducted under Section 447 of the Companies Act 1985. Section 449 of that Act makes it a criminal offence to share any information gathered in the course of the investigation with any person, other than in the strictly prescribed circumstances laid out in the Act. In the light of this legal position I am unable to reconsider the request to publish the report.

UK Trade with EU

Baroness Kramer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the value of (1) imports, and (2) exports, from other EU member states to each local authority area in the UK.

Lord Price: Regional trade statistics at the local authority level are not available. Trade statistics showing the value of trade in goods between UK regions/countries (NUTS 1 level) and EU member states are available from the HM Revenue and Customs’ Regional Trade Statistics database.

Subsidiary Companies

Baroness Kramer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK companies are subsidiaries of another company that is registered (1) within the EU, or (2) in the rest of the world; and what estimate they have made of the total value of those UK companies.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Companies House’s role is to hold the register of UK companies and make the information available to the public. Its role is not to provide detailed analysis on companies. Providing an accurate figure on the number and value of UK companies that are subsidiaries of other non-UK companies would breach the disproportionate cost threshold given the volume and complexity of the information within the dataset.

North East Surrey College of Technology

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what safeguards and governance arrangements have been put in place to prevent a recurrence of the situation where (1) the Principal of North East Surrey College of Technology allegedly paid her husband over £170,000 during the course of a contract with a Saudi Arabian college, and (2) the Board of Governors were unaware for over 18 months that such payments were made.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: As an independent corporation North East Surrey College of Technology is responsible for ensuring appropriate safeguards and governance arrangements are in place in relation to the corporation including subsidiary companies. The Skills Funding Agency has received a report from NESCOT and is considering whether there is any risk to public funds and if so what action should be taken.

Tickets: Sales

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the advice by Europe Direct that providing unique reference numbers on tickets by primary and secondary market ticket sellers is not regulated under the Consumer Rights Directive, and is therefore permitted.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government has not made an assessment of advice by Europe Direct on this issue.

Department for Education

Dean Trust

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to take about the reported proposal by Dean Trust to educate children with special educational needs and disability who have been admitted to one of its schools at another of its schools six miles away.

Lord Nash: Local authorities are responsible for drawing up Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and are responsible for making sure the special educational provision set out in them is delivered, including admission to the named school. Once named in a final EHCP, a school is obliged to admit the child or young person. Should a school fail to meet this duty the Department can direct them to do so.We are aware of concerns raised by parents and others about The Dean Trust’s proposal that pupils due for admission in September 2016 who have an EHCP which names Ashton on Mersey School should be educated at Broadoak School. We are determined to support the parties to satisfactorily resolve the situation regarding the currently affected pupils as well as in the longer term, and ensuring that the legal rights of families are enforced. For that reason officials will be meeting with the authority and trust on 20 June. Our priority is ensuring that the transition from primary to secondary school for pupils is as smooth as possible.We are also determined to ensure that all schools are mindful of their responsibilities towards their pupils and act in accordance with the Children and Families Act 2014 and the statutory Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice in ensuring the best possible outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs. All schools should also act in line with their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, which in part 6 states that the responsible body of a school must not discriminate against a child or young person: in the arrangements it makes for deciding who is offered admission; the terms on which admission is offered; nor, by not admitting.

Haberdashers' Aske's Federation

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action, if any, they have taken during the last 12 months in relation to the fraud allegations at the Haberdashers' Aske's Federation academy chain.

Lord Nash: During the last 12 months, the fraud allegations at the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation academy trust chain have been reviewed as a criminal investigation since first reported to the police in October 2012 by this multi-academy trust. The criminal case against the perpetrator of the fraud began week commencing 6 June at Woolwich Crown Court. The Education Funding Agency (EFA) has engaged with the Trust from the outset and immediately requested that the Trust assess financial systems and risks. The Trust carried out an independent and thorough review of its internal control procedures and reported on this to the EFA. The Trust has taken all the appropriate action since the issue was first identified and the remaining key actions now rest with the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Academies and free schools face tighter financial scrutiny than local authority maintained schools. They must publish annual, independently-audited accounts, of which there is no equivalent requirement on maintained schools. We take swift action whenever we identify financial irregularities.

Young People: Churches

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to require Ofsted inspectors to judge whether the work of mainstream Christian churches with young people, either directly or through approved Christian organisations which specialise in working with young people, in activities such as holiday Bible clubs, church weekends, and summer camps, is in accordance with a "British Values" test; and if so, when such plans would be introduced.

Lord Nash: The Government is committed to safeguarding all children and protecting them from the risk of harm and extremism, including in out-of-school settings. The Prime Minister announced plans to introduce a new system of oversight for out-of-school education settings – such as supplementary schools and tuition centres – which teach children intensively, on 7 October 2015. These were confirmed in the Government’s Counter-Extremism Strategy which was published on 19 October. These plans to regulate out-of-school settings which teach children intensively were set out in the call for evidence which ran for 6 and a half weeks between 26 November and 11 January. We are not proposing to regulate settings teaching children for a short period every week, such as Sunday schools or the Scouts, or one-off residential activities, such as a week-long summer camp. We are looking specifically at settings providing intensive education outside school where children could be spending more than six hours a week. The call for evidence sought views on the appropriateness of seeking to prohibit teaching which undermines or is incompatible with fundamental British values. Now that the call for evidence has closed, we are considering carefully the responses received as we develop the proposals further.We will be publishing our response to the call for evidence and setting out the next steps on the proposals in due course.

The Lord Chairman of Committees

Opening of Parliament

Lord Jopling: To ask the Chairman of Committees, further to his Written Answer on 6 June (HL91), what, if any, is the specification for ermine robes with regard to the materials used, and whether there would be any impediment to clothiers, such as those in the Far East, providing robes for peers either for purchase or for hire.

Lord Laming: As set out in the Standing Orders of the House of Lords Relating to Public Business: “When Her Majesty comes publicly to the House, the Lords shall be attired in their robes or in such other dress as may be approved by Her Majesty”. A proposal for robes other than those presently used would be considered by the appropriate authority.

Department for Work and Pensions

Occupational Pensions

Baroness Burt of Solihull: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many companies list separate pension schemes for senior management in addition to their primary employee pension scheme.

Baroness Altmann: The information requested is not collated centrally either by DWP or TPR and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Home Office

Scout Association: Vetting

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the number of children waiting to join the Scout movement, what plans they have, if any, to review the procedures for repeat Disclosure and Barring Service checks of volunteers.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government has introduced an Update Service to enable existing criminal record certificates to be kept up to date whilst reducing the need for repeat checks with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The DBS is driving greater uptake of the Update Service which will continue to reduce the need for repeat checks, whilst continuing to safeguard children. The Update Service and criminal records certificates are provided free of charge to volunteers. It is for the Scout Association to determine when criminal records checks should be undertaken and whether to enable volunteers to make use of the Update Service.

HM Treasury

Embassies: Home Country Nationals

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 12 May (HL8031), what percentage of diplomatic missions in the UK issued with the annual letters on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office requesting staff lists with details of all locally engaged staff and private servants replied with full information in 2015.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) Embassy team issued 279 letters to the various Embassies and their different sections requesting staff lists for the 2014-15 tax year in September 2015. The requests also ask for details of private addresses and Remuneration. As a result of that letter we received 24 responses. That is an 8% return. Article 10 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (VCDR) outlines a mission’s responsibility to keep the host State informed of the arrival and departure of staff. Embassies therefore only have a legal obligation to notify HM Government of their leavers and new starters so we rely greatly on the goodwill of Embassies to supply us with this additional information.

Embassies: Home Country Nationals

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 12 May (HL8031), how many times in (1) 2014, and (2) 2015, HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) specialist embassy team carried out risk assessment activities and identified individuals who had not notified their employment to HMRC, and subsequently took action to ensure they paid the tax that was due.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The Embassy team in 2014 and 2015 didn’t undertake any specific risk assessment activities with regards to individuals who had not notified their employment. However the team arranged for one of our Central Compliance Teams to undertake a project to review the National Insurance Contributions (NICs) position of various embassies employees using our Risk Profiling system. We reviewed 697 cases and opened checks into 258 of these. Of these 150 were found to be compliant. The checks covered the tax years 2009/10 to 2014/15. In the current year we are expecting to open further checks in relation to both tax and NICs on a number of employees.

London Stock Exchange: Deutsche Borse

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the financial regulators have completed their review of the risk algorithms to be used to permit cross-margining by central counterparties to facilitate the takeover of the London Stock Exchange by Deutsche Borse; whether the results of this review will be published, and whether any further steps will be taken to strengthen confidence in central clearing houses.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The timings of regulatory reviews of any proposal by a CCP to make significant changes to its margining arrangements would be a matter for the company and regulators acting in accordance with the relevant legislation. The Bank of England's 2016 Annual Report on the supervision of financial market infrastructures, laid before Parliament on 4 March 2016, provides further information about ongoing regulatory initiatives in relation to CCPs.

Insurance

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what level of engagement they have had with the insurance industry about reducing costs to consumers.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Treasury Ministers and officials meet with a wide range of companies and organisations to discuss relevant issues. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Treasury’s practice to provide details of all such discussions. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available via the gov.uk website

Insurance Companies: Complaints

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the number of customer complaints regarding insurance companies in the current financial year is above or below average.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The issues raised are a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) who are operationally independent from Government. The questions have been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Noble lord by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Cabinet Office

Civil Servants

Lord Norton of Louth: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps have been taken by the Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office to ensure that the Cabinet Office is compliant with section 3(6) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The requirement of section 3(6) of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act is set out in the Civil Service Code, which forms part of the contract of employment for all civil servants.In the 2015 staff survey, 94% of Cabinet Office staff responded positively to a question about awareness of the Civil Service Code.

Civil Servants: Training

Lord Norton of Louth: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many civil servants in the Cabinet Office have taken either or both of the e-learning courses "Induction: An Introduction to Parliament" and "Parliamentary processes" offered by Civil Service Learning.

Lord Bridges of Headley: Since its introduction in 2015, 80 Civil Servants in the Cabinet Office have taken the “Induction: An Introduction to Parliament” e-learning course offered by Civil Service Learning.Since its introduction in 2012, 260 Civil Servants in the Cabinet Office have taken the “Parliamentary Processes” e-learning course.Of these, 20 Cabinet Office Civil Servants have taken both courses.

Department of Health

Fluoride: Drinking Water

Earl Baldwin of Bewdley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 17 November 2015 (HL3315), why the Executive Summary of the report by Public Health England Water fluoridation: Health monitoring report for England 2014 concludes that "The report provides further reassurance that water fluoridation is a safe and effective public health measure", when the Limitations section of the report states that "there was potential for considerable misclassification of exposure status" and the Conclusion section states that "the population-based, observational design does not allow conclusions to be drawn regarding any causative or protective role of fluoride".

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Public Health England report, Water Fluoridation: Health Monitoring Report for England 2014 was, of necessity, an ecological study. An ecological design is appropriate for monitoring health outcomes in fluoridated and non-fluoridated populations. All academic research has limitations. In designing and conducting research consideration must be taken regarding timescales for publication and cost to the public purse. Stating the limitations of the study within the body of a paper is considered good scientific practice. The report discusses the limitations of this study design, including the potential for mis-classification of fluoride exposure status, using an ecological level of measurement with regard to water fluoridation rather than individual fluoride intake. The report’s findings, however, concur with those of numerous authoritative reviews of water fluoridation that finds levels of tooth decay are lower in fluoridated areas and that there is no convincing evidence that water fluoridation causes adverse health effects. For these reasons the author’s conclusion "The report provides further reassurance that water fluoridation is a safe and effective public health measure" is appropriate. With over 70 years’ experience of water fluoridation internationally and over 50 years’ experience in the United Kingdom, there has been no convincing scientific evidence to indicate that water fluoridation has caused harm to health.

Wheelchairs

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to make Personal Health Budgets available for the provision of wheelchairs; what arrangements they plan to put in place for wheelchair users; and whether the funding stream will be managed centrally and independently from local wheelchair service budgets.

Lord Prior of Brampton: In May 2016, Simon Stevens announced that NHS England would be developing a personal health budgets model for the provision of wheelchairs. This work is in the early stages of development. The intention is to introduce personal wheelchair budgets from April 2017, to cover everyone who accesses the current wheelchair voucher scheme. This includes those with both low level and complex wheelchair requirements. Personal health budgets are not about new money but about using existing budgets differently. Therefore the budget will continue to be held at a local level. NHS England is working with a number of clinical commissioning group clusters to develop guidance on the delivery model. This work will cover care planning, information support and advice for wheelchair users, budget setting (using learning from the development of the Wheelchair Tariff where appropriate) and review. The guidance will be available in advance of the start of roll out in April 2017.

Wheelchairs

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to ensure that NHS England works closely with the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance to produce a positive outcome for the future arrangements for wheelchair users through Wheelchair Services; and what resources will be made available for that process to be completed.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what financial support has been offered to the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance in addition to the support given over the Right Chair, Right Time, Right Now campaign and charter.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Minister for Community and Social Care (Alistair Burt), together with the Minister for Disabled People (Justin Tomlinson) recently met with Baroness Grey-Thompson, Chair of the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance, and NHS England to discuss what action could be taken to improve wheelchair services. This includes NHS England discussing the focus and content of a model service specification for wheelchairs with the Alliance. NHS England made available a further £10,000 to the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance for support during 2015/16.

HIV Infection

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the life-time cost of providing medication and care for an individual diagnosed with HIV at the age of 35.

Lord Prior of Brampton: This information is not available as data is not held on the differential cost of patients based on their disease severity or age. In 2014/15, NHS England provided over £553 million of funding for the care and treatment of around 78,000 diagnosed HIV patients.

HIV Infection

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much they have spent on combating HIV stigma in each of the last five years.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Combatting HIV stigma is integral to much of the work carried out to tackle HIV and part of our National HIV and Sexual Health Promotion programme is to reduce stigma by working with the communities most affected by HIV. Over the last two years, Public Health England provided support for the People Living with HIV Stigma Survey, a collaborative cross sector community led initiative to capture the feelings and experiences of living with HIV in a variety of settings. Spending on stigma is not identified separately within the National HIV and Sexual Health Promotion programme and related work. The National Health Service, local authorities, Government, community and faith groups, the media and individuals all have a part to play in eliminating HIV-related stigma.

Vaccination

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the total combined overall spending on vaccines procurement and administration (1) nationally, and (2) locally, including awareness campaigns, in each year from 2012–13 to the current financial year.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England were formed on 1 April 2013, therefore spend information can only be provided from 2013/2014 financial year onwards. Total combined spend for 2015/16 is not yet available.Overall spend on procurement and the administration of vaccines, including communications spend for campaigns, is split between PHE and NHS England. The total combined overall spend can only be provided at a national level. Local level information is not readily available. Spend information is provided in the following table. Approximate combined vaccine procurement and vaccine administration spend for England Financial Year2013/20142014/2015Vaccine procurement and vaccine administration spend (£ million)578616

Vaccination

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the final report of the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group to be published, and whether its recommendations will be subject to public consultation.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the risk that changes to the cost effectiveness threshold for vaccines as proposed by the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurements working group would lead to England being restricted from paying for some new vaccines when compared to other health economies in Europe, and people in the UK receiving fewer innovative vaccines.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government expects to receive the Cost Effectiveness Methodology for Immunisation Programmes and Procurement report shortly and will consider its recommendations once received. Until then, it would not be appropriate to speculate on possible recommendations or the impact they might have. We are committed to publishing their report. We will decide when to publish, and whether to consult, once we have had time to consider the report.

Defibrillators

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their policy on providing defibrillators in public places and schools.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We recognise that better provision of defibrillators and increasing the number of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation could help save more lives of those who have a cardiac arrest outside a hospital setting. That is why the Chancellor announced in the budget in March 2016 that the Government is making available another £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England. This builds on last year’s funding of £1 million, which provided almost 700 more publicly accessible defibrillators in communities across England and increased the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Details on how this second tranche of the funding can be accessed will be available in due course. The Department for Education (DfE) is encouraging schools to purchase automated external defibrillators (AEDs) as part of their first aid equipment and in November 2014 announced new arrangements to allow schools to purchase AEDs at a competitive price. This is the result of a unique agreement between the DfE and the Department of Health in which devices are bought in bulk and the savings of around 50% are passed on to schools. Since the launch of this policy, 1,389 defibrillators have been provided to schools. To help schools in considering whether to purchase a defibrillator, DfE has published advice on installing and maintaining AEDs on school premises. This has been developed drawing on the expertise of National Health Service ambulance services and voluntary and community sector organisations.

Dairy Products

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the opinion paper by the National Obesity Forum and the Public Health Collaboration Eat Fat, Cut the Carbs and Avoid Snacking to Reverse Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, whether they plan to revise NHS and Public Health England campaigns that discourage the consumption of dairy products, including full-fat milk, butter, cream and cheese.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Public Health England does not plan to revise its campaigns and dietary advice in light of the recent opinion paper published by the National Obesity Forum and the Public Health Collaboration. Government advice continues to encourage consumption of dairy products as part of a healthy, balanced diet in line with the Eatwell Guide; advising people to choose lower fat varieties of milk and dairy products where possible, due to the evidence that high intakes of saturated fat are associated with raised blood cholesterol and cardiovascular risk.

Fats

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to (1) review the long-standing advice by the Department of Health against eating fatty foods, and (2) publish revised advice.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Government advice is that people should base meals on starchy carbohydrates, especially wholegrain; eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day; and cut back on food and drinks high in saturated fat, salt, sugar and calories. The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) is currently reviewing evidence on saturated fat and health. A draft report is planned for public consultation at the end of 2017. Current advice will remain in place until the SACN has completed its review.

Female Genital Mutilation

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many midwives have been trained in identifying female genital mutilation (FGM) and in the new mandatory FGM reporting duties, and what percentage of midwives that represents.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department does not hold information on the numbers of midwives who have been trained in identifying female genital mutilation (FGM) or the mandatory reporting duty to report FGM. Content on tackling FGM is included within the Level 3 Safeguarding training curriculum, published by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health on behalf of an inter-collegiate group, which all midwives are required to undertake. Many organisations also deliver additional training, the content of which is decided locally. Last year the Department commissioned Health Education England to develop a range of FGM e-learning sessions available free of charge to National Health Service staff. As of 17 February almost 16,000 modules had been completed. As part of the Department’s FGM Prevention Programme, a package of FGM awareness materials was sent to all hospitals and general practitioner practices in February 2016. In addition, we have developed a flyer insert about the FGM mandatory reporting duty which will be included in the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) magazine, sent to approximately 45,000 RCM members.